Hogwarts: I Am an Exemplary Wizard-Chapter 509 - 507: Gift

In the following days, Kael’s life remained unchanged; every morning as soon as he awoke, he could see a thick stack of books on the table in the common room.

These were brought over by others, as if they wanted to move the library here, tirelessly busy with their efforts.

And the always strict Madam Pince surprisingly loosened the borrowing standards, no longer requiring the last book to be returned before borrowing a new one.

This led to an increasing number of books piled up in Kael’s dormitory, making the desk insufficient, so he had to place them all in the corner, planning to return them after the Triwizard Tournament ends.

Although it was a bit troublesome every day, it was everyone’s good intention, so Kael couldn’t say much.

However, such kindness was of absolutely no practical use.

... There’s no choice, not to mention whether these books are even useful, even if they are, Kael certainly couldn’t finish reading over thirty books in a day.

Let alone reading... he couldn’t possibly flip through that many books.

Finally, after a week, Rita Skeeter’s article was published.

While having breakfast, the owls delivered the newspaper on time.

On Halloween, the Daily Prophet also featured news about the Triwizard Tournament, with the cover showcasing a group photo of the champions, judges’ panel, and Fudge.

The lower right corner of the photo was purposely left to capture a corner of the Gryffindor long table... Harry was sitting there, excitedly clapping his hands.

There’s no denying that the photographer brought by Fudge was truly skilled, as that photo received a lot of praise at the time, with many people cutting it out from the newspaper for separate collection.

Including Harry himself did the same; according to his words... this counted as participating in the Triwizard Tournament.

At that time, Ron felt extremely jealous and immensely regretted not sitting there.

However, the last issue of the Daily Prophet mostly introduced the history and origins of the Triwizard Tournament.

This time the focus was on the champions.

First up was the most famous Viktor Krum, who occupied more than half of the pages, with one-tenth covering his career and achievements, while the rest was gossip.

This included but not limited to frequently changing female companions, fighting with his teammates backstage, driving away the original captain to succeed...

In short, all content that people relish, and it was described in detail as if Rita Skeeter were present at the moment.

Fleur received similar treatment... probably due to her lack of fame, her article was brief, compared to Krum’s sensational topics, hers could only be described as mediocre.

Yet it was not exactly pleasing.

Though indirectly, the article repeatedly suggested her Half-Veela identity, and mentioned remarks from other Beauxbatons students about her... of course, not without Rita Skeeter’s embellished drama.

After reading it, Fleur was so infuriated she skipped breakfast.

"No wonder Ms. Maxime advised me to keep a distance."

Fleur ground her teeth, glaring at a particular sentence...

(She seems to be collecting everyone’s hearts, even those Hufflepuff girls fell into her woven trap.)

"... Am I some kind of evil Dark Wizard?" she said angrily.

"Oh, does it mention me?" Conna peeked over... clearly, among those so-called "Hufflepuff girls," she must be one of them.

"How odd..." Conna picked up the newspaper thrown onto the table for another look.

"Kael, why are there so few articles about you?"

"Perhaps she thinks I’m ordinary, not worth writing about," Kael replied.

The content related to him was far from sparse; it was like a buy-two-get-one-free giveaway, mentioned in an inconspicuous spot in the middle of the newspaper, totaling less than three lines.

Others also noticed this and voiced their grievances for Kael.

However, Kael thought differently; less appearance in Rita Skeeter’s articles was naturally better.

Plus, this was Hogwarts, he didn’t need the Daily Prophet to promote himself or expand his fame.

"Bang!"

Suddenly, a loud noise erupted from the Slytherin table.

Krum apparently learned about the newspaper content, he had always been expressionless, uninterested in anything, but for the first time, his facial expression changed.

His face turned red with anger, he overturned the plate, pouring the soup all over Crabbe opposite him, wasting not a drop.

Krum didn’t apologize, or rather he didn’t notice at all in his rage, uttered something in Bulgarian before swiftly leaving the auditorium.

Although none present understood what he said, Kael guessed... it was likely praising Rita Skeeter’s genealogy.

This issue of the Daily Prophet also reignited everyone’s anticipation for the Triwizard Tournament, wanting to immediately fast forward to the thirtieth.

Of course, except for the three champions... Kael didn’t know Krum’s thoughts, but he noticed Fleur became increasingly anxious ever since entering the last week countdown before the first task.

At Maxime’s request, she temporarily moved out of the Hufflepuff dormitory, returning to Beauxbatons’ carriage, and didn’t attend classes with seventh-year students at the castle.

Occasionally running into her, she always appeared absent-minded.

Thus, it went on until Friday... two days before the first task started.

From morning onwards, the castle was filled with a palpable atmosphere of anticipation and excitement.

"How are you feeling, nervous?" While having breakfast, Cedric kept pushing plates of scrambled eggs and bacon towards Kael. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Instead of stopping his impolite behavior, others even got up to help move over distant plates...

Soon, the piles of plates in front of Kael formed a small mountain.

"I’m not nervous, but could you guys act a tad bit normal?" Kael said, "The first task isn’t about who can eat more bacon..."

Yet no one listened to him.

Kael could only speed up his eating, aiming to leave this overly enthusiastic place quickly.

Just then, the messengers arrived.

A large flock of owls rushed into the auditorium, tossing letters and parcels to each student.

Among them, the six robust long-eared owls stood out, jointly holding a long parcel and dropping it onto the Hufflepuff table.

"Kael, this is for you!" Someone noticed the name on it and shouted loudly.

"For me?" Kael swiftly finished off the last bit of sandwich in hand, rose to take a look.

"What did you buy?" Cedric asked.

"I don’t know," Kael said, "I haven’t bought anything recently... but it looks like a broom."

The package was long with one thick end and one thin end, the usual packaging style of the Quidditch Boutique.

As he spoke, Kael also noticed a card hanging on the parcel exterior.

"Congratulations on becoming a champion, it’s truly a great surprise, I wanted to prepare a gift for you but didn’t know what to give, after thinking it over this seemed most appropriate, hope you like it.

... Sirius Black."